Undercover
by srsn
Summary: Sam goes undercover, set a good six  months after 1x13. Chapters change between what happens the day Sam leaves and his work undercover. M rating due to drug use
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Hi guys! This is the first fanfiction I have ever published. I have previously only written them for my own enjoyment, but I am interested to see what kind of responses I get.

I have finished the story and there are a bunch of chapters but I will only post the prologue and chapter one as of now and then the rest if you guys respond well to it =)

I guess that's it. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rookie Blue or it's characters or anything else related to the series in any way, shape or form. This is purely for enjoyment purposes.

* * *

><p><strong>Undercover<strong>

**Prologue**

_Late October_

It had only been three weeks.

Time was moving slowly and he was already starting to question his decision of going back undercover.

He knew it was going to be risky going back under, but he thought that he could manage. He didn't expect not being able to leave his "real" life behind. He thought he'd be able to leave her behind.

But as he now sat, in his newly "decorated" rat nest of an apartment, he couldn't focus. He was supposed to go over the details again, the same details he had been going through for weeks now while starving himself and working on his tweaked look. They were in his head, he knew it, yet all he could think about were those brown eyes and her smile.

"Snap out of it!" He said loudly. Almost jumping at the sound of his own voice. He let out a loud sigh, and went over to the window. The street on which he now resided was a dirty one. His building was filled with druggies or people who just couldn't afford better, usually with kids. He frowned at the thought of living there for the next year. He had no idea how long it would take, but he wanted to see the case through. He really did.

Now, if he could only focus and stop questioning things.

"I am Sam. My life went south two years ago. I have no job. I get my money from dealing, but I am also a recreational user because my life sucks and it gives me an escape. I don't do the hard stuff though, mostly coke."

He had yet to fully develop his new profile so he just went through what the Guns and Gangs-unit had informed him was his new identity. They'd wanted to name him Joel. Sam had refused.

From experience he knew that going under with a different name, made it a lot easier to mess up in the beginning. Imagine not responding to a name you're supposed to have been responding to your whole life. It was also troublesome when you went under for long periods of time. You really became a different person all together. You started automatically responding to your new name and that made it all the more difficult to come back up.

That was the reason he had insisted that he'd keep his own name. It would also make it easier to not get blown in the off chance that someone from his real life would recognize him and talk to him on the street.

"Okay, okay. Mark." He racked his brain for the images and information he'd studied so intently over the last couple of weeks. "Rueben Petrov. Big boss drug and gun importer, but most importantly pimp and child smuggler."

This guy made Anton Hill shake in his pants, in fact, Hill had skipped town as soon as Petrov had ordered a hit on most of Hill's muscle which had resulted in a vicious shooting at Hill's restaurant and Hill's instant departure.

Petrov smuggled children as young as 6 into the country. From his base in Toronto, he oversaw the sending of said children to child predators all around the world in the end leaving them scarred with horrible prospects for their future. That was if they even lived that long.

It made Sam sick just thinking about it, but he knew that if he could do something to stop Petrov, to keep those children safe, he would do it no matter what he had to give up in the process.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Chapter 1. And so the story starts. Hope you like it =)

Feel free to review =)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rookie Blue or it's characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_Early October_

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"What the hell, Swarek?" Blue eyes met brown as Sam barged through the door.

"You need to get your priorities in order." Sam said accusingly pointing at Callaghan.

"What are you talking about?" Callaghan rolled his eyes as he shuffled his papers into a neat pile on his desk.

"She needs you to be there for her. She doesn't need you to be at work."

"Oh, this is about Andy?"

"Well of course it is!" Sam said throwing his hands in the air.

"Just for your information, I _am_ there for her." Luke said, controlled as ever.

"Not from what she tells _me_." Sam said under his breath, deliberately looking away from Callaghan as he said it.

Callaghan took a deep breath and Sam couldn't help the small grin that crept over his face at Callaghan's frustration.

"So, she talks to you about us?"

Gaining control over his emotions and wiping the grin off his face before he turned back to face Callaghan Sam said "I'm her partner, of course she does."

"So what do you suggest I do? Drop all my cases just because she had a rough shift? If you hadn't noticed I actually work with putting murderers away. It's kind of an important job." The frustration was now evident in Callaghan's voice.

"I'm not saying to put all of 'em away." He rolled his eyes that Callaghan would even have suggested that. "I'm just saying that when there's a case that doesn't require your immediate attention then you give it a rest until the next day. You don't take on a whole bunch of extra work when you know she's waiting for you to come home. You show her that you actually want to be with her." Sam knew his tone was harsh, but he really did not like Callaghan, and due to the fact that he was responsible for her happiness, Sam had to know that she would be taken care of while he was away.

"Where is all this coming from anyway?" Callaghan asked. His tone was more controlled, so it seemed like Sam's point had sunk in.

Sam didn't really want Callaghan to be the first, other than Best, to know, but he thought it best to be honest.

"I'm going away." He said simply.

"You're going away?"

"Yeah."

When Sam just stood there without saying anything else for almost a minute Callaghan felt the need to say something.

"Where are you going?"

"Are you really that…" Sam caught himself. "I'm going back to UC-work."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There was a short uncomfortable silence.

"When do you leave?"

"I start my two weeks of preparation tomorrow."

"Oh..."

"So you have to be there for her." Sam said sincerely. He needed to know that Andy would be okay. That she would be taken care of.

"I will be." Callaghan said with a small nod.

"Well, good." Sam said uncomfortably. He was not used to sincere talks with Callaghan, and he definitely did not like having them either. "I'm just gonna…" He pointed at the door.

Callaghan gave a small affirming nod and went back to his papers.

Sam stopped half way through the door. "Oh, by the way, only you and Best know."

Callaghan looked up at him again.

"Don't tell anyone today, okay?" Sam hoped he would understand just who he meant by anyone.

"Okay. I won't tell her."

* * *

><p>"What were you doing in Callaghan's office?"<p>

Sam's head whipped around to see Oliver Shaw with an expression that was a mix between amusement and worry.

"Nothing." Sam said with more annoyance than necessary.

"Yah, I can see that." Oliver said the amusement part leaving his expression to make room for more worry. "What's up?" He said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Sam debated telling him he was leaving, but decided against it as Oliver would tell Noelle and Jerry, and Jerry would tell Traci and then Andy would know.

He couldn't bear the thought of going through their last shift together with the prospect of him leaving hanging between them.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"This about your rookie?" He asked with his mouth full of sandwich.

"She's not my rookie anymore." Sam said dully looking around the precinct.

"So it's about her then." Oliver stated before swallowing. "Ya know? Maybe if you told her..."

"No." The words that left Sam's lips were way harsher than necessary. He looked back over at Oliver who was studying his sandwich apparently in contemplation of whether to take another bite or not. He decided against it and looked back at Sam.

"Okay."

"We better get to parade." Sam said after a short silence and headed off.

"I guess." Oliver said slowly. "Hey, Sam?"

Sam stopped in his tracks en route to the parade room and turned back towards Ollie.

"We'll talk about it later, right? At the Penny tonight?"

Sam gave a small nod, which he knew was a lie. He was going away tonight. Best would inform everyone in the morning so that he wouldn't have to. He was grateful for that. Even though it felt like he was betraying his friends, he needed to focus on the case. He'd been going over the case files every night for weeks now. He had to keep his head in the game. Clear of personal drama.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Ahh! You're reviews have made me so happy! Thank you very much!

Some general info: There are 9 chapters total including the prologue and an epilogue.

I've divided the chapters so that it's either about Sam being undercover or about him leaving to go undercover. I hope it's not too messy. I've tried to make it clear by adding the month at the beginning of each chapter. Just keep in mind that he left in early October and you should be able to keep up =)

Again =) Thanks so much for the reviews and favorites and alerts and everything =D I really did not expect this kind of response!

Since this story is finished, I would love it if you sent me requests for new stories, questions or suggestions for improvement. Writing is a hobby of mine that I haven't done in ages. Took me getting addicted to RB to start properly again ^^

I think I'll upload one chapter a day going forward to keep you on the edge of your seats so to speak =P

But without further ado; here's chapter 2, it's quite short, but hopefully you'll enjoy it =)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

_January_

It had been three months.

He had been trying to talk to people. Dirty, smelly people. But had gotten nowhere at first.

Two weeks ago he'd gotten a small break in the case when he sold some coke to a young street kid who had apparently been contacted by one of Petrov's people to do some dirty work for him. This could be Sam's in to Petrov's gang, and so he had spent the last couple of weeks getting friendly with the kid and gaining his trust.

It was nice having someone finally talking to him, and the kid, Max, was really a good kid who'd had really bad parents and had to take care of himself from a very young age. To Sam it seemed like Max had experienced more in his 18 years than Sam had in his whole life.

Sam was sitting on a dingy couch in a beat down abandoned building. The air was heavy with dust and Max was restlessly pacing around jumping at each and every sound, whirling up even more dust from the floor.

"You sure you don't want some man?" Max asked before hurrying over to the window to find out who was moving the trash cans around outside. "It's all right. Just a cat." He assured as he came back and slumped down next to Sam. "Here." He said as he offered Sam the rolled up single while pointing to the white lines on the little mirror on the box in front of them. "You go first."

"Nah, I'm good man. 's all yours."

"Ya sure?" Max' blood shot eyes were struggling with focusing on him. And he was twitching slightly at the sounds coming in from the street.

"Yah. I don't mix business and pleasure." Sam winked.

Sam was tired. He tried to only sleep a couple of hours each night to maintain his worn out, druggie/dealer look, and it was taking its toll. It didn't help that he barely ate either. When you're on coke your appetite decreases and you lose weight. When you're pretending to be on coke, it means going hungry.

"I love this shit." Max said as he snorted a line and leaned back on the couch.

"Yeah. It's good stuff." Sam agreed.

"Really is. Makes everything clear." He had a huge smile on his face. He sighed contently. "Can't wait for the job later. Gonna be sick! I'm gonna own it! I just know."

"What are you doing?" Sam asked in a purposely bored tone.

"Ah, ah, ah." Max said wiggling his finger in Sam's face. "Strict orders not to tell."

"Aight. Whatever." Sam shrugged and stared up at the ceiling.

"But I'm gonna be great! Whoosh in, then back out. I'll be awesome!"

"No doubt!" Sam yelled enthusiastically.

"You're a good guy, Sammy." Max said with a big smile. "I'm real glad I met you."

"Me too, man, me too."

* * *

><p>Sam had stayed on the couch listening to Max rant about everything his mind could think up for a few hours before Max had to go take care of the job he had been assigned.<p>

Left on his own again, Sam couldn't help his mind drifting. He caught himself thinking of her and sat up abruptly shaking his head to get rid of the images. He had to focus. Why couldn't he get her out of his mind?

What he needed to do was think of a way to get Max to trust him even more and to get him talking about stuff, not thinking about Andy McNally in her uniform. Using all of his self control he pushed the images of McNally to the back of his mind and tried to focus.

He knew it would take more time to fully gain Max' trust. A _lot_ more time.

Sam felt his head lolling to the side. He was exhausted.

Oh, how he wanted to see her smile.

No! He whipped his head back up and glanced at the table. The 1 $ bill was lying rolled up next to the small mirror which had a thin white line right in the middle. _-That'd give me more energy._ Sam thought sleepily.

"Argh! I have to get out of here!" He said loudly while tearing at his hair.

He got up and brushed the stripe off of the mirror before he put it in his back pocket with the rolled up bill. He sighed, let his shoulders drop, and left the abandoned building.

It was cold outside.

His short, ragged breaths were clearly visible as he walked quickly along the abandoned houses. He was only wearing a thin jacket over his long-sleeve and t-shirt so he wrapped his arms tightly around himself as he walked towards his safe house.

When he finally reached the run-down apartment building and entered his apartment, he flopped down on the bed and drifted into a restless sleep. His dreams dominated by none other than Andy McNally.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** As promised, here is chapter 3 of my story.

Your reviews have been the best so far, and I can't begin to describe how much it means to me that you like my writing. Please keep letting me know what you think, good or bad, I'd just like to know=)

I appologize for any errors in syntax, but I am from Norway and we arrange our words slightly differently from English at times and I haven't had English lessons in six years =P

Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's got a lot of McSwarek interaction ;)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

_Early October_

"Serve, protect and try not to die from boredom" Best said as he finished up that morning's parade. There hadn't been a lot to say as the last couple of days had been a quiet couple of days at 15th division.

Sam was on his feet quickly and was half way out the door when he heard Oliver's voice telling Best; "You know you just jinxed us, right?"

A smile crept over Sam's lips at his friend's superstition and he was still smiling when Andy caught up with him with the bag in the parking lot.

"Hey." She said with a small smile on her face. "You ready for today?"

"Ready for what?" Sam asked as he got in the driver's seat. "Nothing has been happening for days."

"Yeah, well I just meant…" She apparently didn't know what she meant. So, instead of continuing her trail of thought she just threw the bag into the back seat and flopped down in the passenger seat.

"What did you mean?" Sam asked when they'd gotten out on the road.

"Huh?" She'd been zoning out.

"What did you mean earlier? Ready for?"

"Driving?" She proffered.

"What?"

"I don't know." She sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

She was hiding something, or wanting to hide something. But he knew her. "The same nothing as last week?"

She remained silent.

Sam rolled his eyes and breathed heavily. "What did he do this time?" He asked dully. He couldn't even remember how many times they had had these conversations about her relationship with Callaghan.

"Nothing. That's the problem." She sighed. "He didn't even…" she trailed off and stared out of the window.

Sam really didn't want to ask. He had heard her whine about it one too many times. Before, he'd been all too keen on listening to her problems and try to offer advice to fix things, or just to get an inside scoop trying to find the slightest glimmer that she'd realized it wasn't meant to be and the whole thing was going south. But now…

She'd been with Callaghan for over a year, and even though he seemingly acted indifferent towards their relationship she still stayed with him. Sam would want nothing more than for her to finally admit that Callaghan wasn't the one for her. For her to realize that she deserved better than a guy who only cared about his career. But she didn't seem to get it, and Sam's emotional stability was deteriorating rapidly from the constant waiting.

He was lost in his thoughts and didn't even notice what he was saying until it was too late. "It's gonna be good to get away."

As he realized his unintended admission, his eyes grew wide and he glanced over at his partner silently hoping that she hadn't heard him. But, no.

"You're going away?" She turned away from the window, and he could feel her eyes on him. "Where to? On vacation? With who?"

"Nowhere."

"Then why did you say it?"

"Say what?" He knew the playing stupid act wouldn't work, but the thought of telling her made his heart sink into his stomach. Somehow he had come to terms with going away and leaving everyone, but the thought of leaving _her_ still tore him up.

"Don't play stupid. You know what you said."

He should tell her. But then it would become real. Then he would really leave her. Like she had been left too many times before. She'd be disappointed, maybe even hate him. He didn't want that. Even so, maybe he should tell her. He would leave no matter what. He had committed already and couldn't back down now. Maybe she wouldn't hate him as much if he gave her a heads up. But it was definitely going to be painful.

"Sam? Sam!" she had apparently been nagging him about answering while he was busy figuring out whether to tell her or not.

"What?"

"Zone out much?" She was clearly annoyed with him.

"Yeah." He sighed heavily.

"What's up with you today?"

"Let's go eat something." He said as he pulled over to the side of the street and unbuckled his seat belt.

"What's going on?"

He couldn't tell her in the squad car. He needed other people around them when he told her. Not because he was afraid that she would take the news badly, but because he was afraid of how he'd react to finally admitting it to her. He figured having strangers around would help him control his emotions.

She was still sitting in the car when he reached the steps in front of the small diner. He turned back and motioned for her to get out and follow him.

He saw her sighing before she complied, unbuckled her seat belt and came out to join him. "What's going on?" She asked as she reached the steps.

He remained silent and pushed through the doors. He knew she was rolling her eyes at him, but he couldn't be bothered with that right now. He had to figure out a good way of telling her. He needed a good explanation. He needed a good way to say –I'm leaving you, but I'm not leaving because of you.

He sat down on a chair near the window and stared out at the car. She sat down opposite him, her eyes near boring a hole in the side of his head.

"So?" She said after a moment of silence.

He stole a look at her before continuing his gazing out the window.

"Sam?" Her voice was laden with irritation, but there was a hint of something else. Insecurity? Worry? He couldn't quite place it.

He breathed deeply and turned to face her.

"McNally." He sighed.

"What's..."

"Be quiet." It was a simple statement. He needed her not to say anything. No questions, no comments. He needed to tell her the way he wanted to.

She looked at him expectantly, but didn't say anything.

"I _am_ leaving."

Her eyes grew larger. "What do you..."

He lifted his hand, and she fell silent.

"I'm going back undercover." It was almost a whisper

Suddenly, her eyes were all over the place. He could see that she was trying to keep her composure.

"They approached me a couple of weeks ago. It's a big case and the guy we're wanting to put away has done some extremely horrible things."

She nodded, but still couldn't keep looking at him for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

"When?"

"Tomorrow." He tried to give her a reassuring look, he tried to tell her everything was going to be okay, but communicating through your eyes is hard when the one you're trying to communicate with won't look at you.

"So soon?" She whispered. "How am I..."

"You're going to be awesome. You _are_ awesome!" He said with a big grin in an effort to lighten the mood, but she didn't bite. The grin slowly left his face.

"You remember what I told you our first shift together right?" He tried to catch her eyes, but they were studying the table a little too intently. "I said I was waiting to go back to guns and gangs. And, like I said, they came to me a couple of weeks ago."

"I know. Or I get it. I mean..." She sighed heavily. "It's what you've wanted, right?" She stole a glance at him, and he could see her eyes brimming with tears.

"Yeah." She looked back down at the table at his reply. "I didn't know how to tell you."

Her eyes whipped back up to stare at him, the sadness in them was now mixed with anger. "You weren't going to tell me?"

He looked at her nervously.

"You were going to leave. And you weren't going to tell me?" Her voice was growing louder.

"McNally..."

"No!" She said sternly. "How was I supposed to find out?"

"Best was, _is_, going to..."

"At parade? Tomorrow? What the hell Sam?"

People were starting to look, and Sam silently cursed his decision to enter the diner. The waitress hadn't even approached them for their order.

"Let's go back out to the car McNally." He said calmly as he got up from his seat.

"How could you?" she got up from her seat.

Well, at least she was looking at him again, he thought as he smiled apologetically to the waitress and some of the patrons as he passed them on his way to the door. "Don't turn your back on me Sam!" He picked up his pace and was quickly out the door and back in the car. He watched wearily as she stormed out of the diner and over to the car before she ripped open the door on the driver's side.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So, your reviews are really boosting my confidence and I have been jabbering on to my friends about how glad I am that you guys like what I write =)

For those of you waiting for what happens after the conversation in the diner, you have to wait until tomorrow for my next upload =P

Keep reviewing and let me know what you think!

I'm trying to come up with some ideas for a new story at the moment, but I don't feel like my ideas are thurough enough at to start writing yet =( Hence; requests or suggestions are more than welcome, just PM me^^

Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the previous ones =D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

_April_

"Hey, man! Got the good stuff for me?"

"You're in a good mood." Sam stated as he walked over to Max. Max offered him a cigarette which he accepted. He put it in his mouth and he leaned in to let Max light it for him.

"So, you got something for me?" Max asked nervously looking up and down the street.

Sam frowned at him and emptied his lungs of the cigarette smoke.

"Not out here? Okay." Max said in response to Sam's frown.

Sam just shook his head and took another drag of his cigarette. The smoke escaped his lungs along with a sigh before he threw the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. He looked around to make sure they were alone, and pointed to the broken window they usually used to get inside, encouraging Max to get going.

Once they'd gotten deep inside the abandoned building Sam pulled a small packet out of his back pocket and handed it to Max.

"Awesome!" Max exclaimed with round eyes. He then held out his hand towards Sam.

Sam looked at his hand with amusement and mimicked his pose.

"Right, yeah!" Max said digging deep in his pocket for a couple of bills and handing them to Sam who grabbed them and put them in his pocket.

"So?" Max said, still holding out his hand.

"Aight." Sam said rolling his eyes that he was actually supplying a customer with tools. He got a small mirror out of his pocket and handed it to Max.

Max flashed a grin of severely yellowed teeth before kneeling on the floor to prepare the drugs.

"Ya want one?" Max asked smiling excitedly.

"Nah, not on…" Sam said dismissively.

"The job." Max finished his sentence. "I know. Okay, then. More for me!" Max grinned and proceeded to snort two lines in quick succession.

"Take it easy, man." Sam said, eying him nervously. He'd noticed that Max' tolerance was increasing and it worried him. Not only because Max was his best link to Petrov but because he'd come to genuinely care for the kid. They spent a lot of time together, maybe more than necessary, but Max trusted him now. He really did. And that was a good thing.

"No prob. Ain't no thing." Max said lying back on the floor enjoying his high. "So I talked to those guys. Have you ever noticed the patterns in the ceiling? Haha! Look!"

Sam looked up, but couldn't see what would be so funny. "Yeah? They got some for me?"

"Huh? Yup. Want us to do somethin' to prove ourselves." Max said, still studying the roof intently.

"When?"

"Said they'd call."

"'K." Sam said thoughtfully. What kind of proof did they want? What would he have to do? He should report to his unit. Let them know what was going on. He made a mental note to do it later. This was big news. He might finally get a foot into Petrov's organization.

Sam figured that it would be better to wait until Max had gotten over the peak of his high before questioning him further about the job, so he sat down and leaned against the wall. He was trying to think up what kind of jobs Petrov would give them to prove themselves and after some thought he landed on it either being a look out, or a security deal. These were the kind of jobs where Petrov easily could have someone watch them, and he highly doubted that they would be trusted with anything of major importance.

A while later Max stretched and sat up slowly. He wasn't as energetic which meant that he was starting to come down.

"This job." Sam said calmly, staring out through a shattered window. "You got any idea about when?"

"Nope." Max said, as he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Said they'd call."

"Aight." Sam got to his feet. "I gotta go do some more business. You'll call me when you hear from 'em right?"

"'Course." Max said now making smoke rings and putting his hand through the middle. "Sweet!" He cheered when he saw that there was still a line left on the little mirror.

"Try to take it easy with that shit, man." Sam said as Max went to do the last line.

"'s all good, 's all good." He said turning towards Sam, the yellow smile plastered on his face.

"I'm serious, man. Slow it down." Sam said sternly.

Max laughed nervously. "What? Ya wanna run outta business? I'm your best costumer." He said with a wink.

Sam couldn't help but smile at his actions. He was like a little kid. "I'm just sayin'. I'm not too keen on finding you dead next time I come around."

"Nah, don't worry. Like I said: 's all good my brother."

"Aight." Sam sighed. "Have fun." He walked towards the busted window to get back out on the street. "And remember: Call me."

* * *

><p>Sam awoke abruptly to the sound of his phone ringing loudly. He sat up, disoriented, with his head whipping back and forth to try and find the source of the noise.<p>

"Yah!" He said when he'd finally found it and had flipped it open.

"Hey, Sammy. They called."

"Aight. When?"

"Couple of hours."

Sam groaned silently. He had forgotten about informing the unit about his progress earlier that day, and they wouldn't be able to mobilize completely in this short amount of time.

"What's the job?" Sam asked calmly.

"Don't know. They'll tell us when we meet up with 'em"

"Okay. Where'll we meet?"

"Abandoned warehouse near the docks."

"Which one?"

"We'll meet. I'll show ya."

"Aight. Good. I'll see you soon." Sam said and he heard the beep signaling that Max had hung up the phone. Sam scanned through his contact list until he found who he was looking for; Jennifer. He pressed call and waited patiently for an answer.

"Jennifer's phone." A bored male voice said at the other end.

"Hey, man. 's me."

"How's it going? Any news?" Boyd said with sudden interest.

"Doing some kind of initiation thing tonight, soon." Sam said curtly. "I'd appreciate not getting any interruptions."

"What are you doing?"

"That's it. I don't know. Don't even know where I'm meeting up with them. My guy is taking me to them. Heading out from the docks, but that's all I know."

"Ok. I'll inform the sergeant in that division to show caution. But with as little info as you're giving me, I can't promise much." Boyd said sincerely.

"Thanks. I gotta go." Sam said and flipped his phone shut without waiting for Boyd to respond.

He put the phone in his pocket and went over to his dresser. He pulled out a drawer and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. A small revolver. He loaded it before putting it in between the lining of his pants and his back. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves which were starting to get jumpy.

"Right." He said taking another deep breath. "Let's do this!" He did a small jump before pulling on a thin jacket and walking out the door.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Yay! Continuation of Sam's leaving.

I'm a bit worried some of the dialogue might be a bit out of character, so please let me know if you think so too, and if you have any pointers, I would love to hear them.

As earlier; Your comments and reviews have been great so far, and I'd just love to hear what you think about this one =D

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

_Early October_

She'd grabbed his vest and actually pulled him out of the car. He was surprised at her strength as she slammed him, in his opinion, a tad bit harder than necessary, into the side of the squad car.

"McNally." He said warily. "I don't think..."

"You. Be. Quiet." She said punctuating each word with a poke to his chest. Her left hand was still tightly gripping his vest.

"But..."

"How could you even think of not telling me?" She asked loudly.

"McNally." He tried again. "People are looking."

"I don't care. How could you not tell me?" Her voice was still in the too loud spectrum and they were starting to draw a crowd.

"Andy. People are looking. We're in uniform."

She went to say something but stopped herself and looked around. There were at least five people in near proximity to them, and the people in the diner were pressed up against the window. She looked back at Sam, her eyes were huge and she looked very embarrassed.

"Get in the car." She said through gritted teeth. As she let go of his vest he could see the color returning to her hand. She was really mad. He definitely should have told her as soon as he'd found out. But did she really have the right to be this upset? He didn't belong to her. They weren't together. She was with Callaghan. _They_ were just friends. Now that he thought about it she had no right!

He slid into his seat, started the car and pulled out onto the road. Because the car was filled with the anger and the tension between them, they rode around for a while in silence. But after some time the silence got to him. His mind would keep replaying every time she'd chosen Callaghan over him, every time he'd been there for her when Callaghan wasn't. How he'd gone out of his way to patch her relationship back up every time she'd had a problem with it.

How could he have been such an idiot? He should have stopped caring a long time ago. Now his whole life revolved around only her, and _her_ happiness decided if _he_ was happy. He couldn't take it anymore. Maybe that was why he had said yes to go back undercover.

Of course he wanted to put Petrov away but he also needed distance. He couldn't stand seeing her in the arms of the tall blue-eyed poster boy anymore.

"You really have no right you know." Sam couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Right to what?" She snapped, her emotions seemingly still going a mile a minute.

"To be mad at me." He said using a whole lot of willpower to stay calm. Losing his temper while driving was not something that would help the situation.

"What? How can you even say that!"

"What's your reason?" He shot back quickly.

"I..."

He forced a cocky grin at her silence. "Cat got your tongue?"

She glared at him. "I'm mad because…" He could almost hear her mind working to figure out why. "I'm mad because you're leaving."

"But you knew I'd probably leave at some point. I told you that."

"Yes, but..." Her voice was calmer. He was happy that she'd been able to calm down somewhat and had activated her mind. This would be their last day together after all and leaving while she was furious with him wasn't really something he wanted.

"I don't know... I just didn't think it would be so soon. I thought maybe…" She fell silent and started rubbing her thigh as if trying to remove a non-existent crease.

"Maybe?"

She just sighed.

"You don't want to tell me?" He asked daring to look at her for the first time since they'd gotten back into the squad car. He had an inkling of where she was going, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Yes... But no."

"Why?"

"You scare me."

"Well, you scare me too." He tried to say it jokingly, but he could tell that the sincerity of his words shone through.

"It's not like it is with Luke. That's easy. Well except for being ignored." She trailed off, apparently somewhat surprised by her own statement. "But he's not dangerous."

"I'm dangerous?"

"Of course you are! Look what you made me do!" Her words contained some anger, and he got somewhat nervous of her going off again, but he heard her take a deep breath and regain control. "You can hurt me so badly. You already have." She whispered

"I don't want to do that, but I have said yes. And if you put yourself in my position maybe you could understand?"

"And what position is that?" She asked before lowering her voice in an impression of him:

"I have a possibility to do this awesome bust that will make everyone see how excellent I am as a cop, even though they already know this. I get to do the kind of police work I love which involves putting myself in unnecessary danger to put away a bad guy. I get to leave all of my friends behind and play the part of the loner I want everyone to think I am." Her impression of him involved her putting on a serious, brooding expression and he had to try hard not to roll his eyes at her.

"Is that it? Cause I really don't see it. You're putting a case in front of the people you care about. Kinda remind you of someone?" She said in her normal voice. It was filled with frustration.

"That's a really low blow McNally. And you only got part of my position anyway." He had decided that Oliver's tip may not have been so bad after all. He was going to tell her.

"And the other part?" She questioned. The frustration was still heavy in her voice but it also had a hint of curiosity.

"The other part," He paused to get his thoughts in order. He decided to pull over to the sidewalk, but was not going to do the same mistake he'd made earlier that day of getting out. His seatbelt felt tighter and tighter on his chest so he unbuckled it, but the pressure didn't go away. _–Great._ He thought. _–This is going to be hard._

"The other part..." He started again, but couldn't make himself continue.

His hand, which had been resting on his thigh suddenly felt warm, and as he looked down he saw her hand resting on top of his and for some reason the tightness in his chest dissipated. He glanced over at her and their eyes met. She gave him an encouraging smile before he turned back to look at their hands.

"Yes. I want to put this guy away. He's a horrible person. What he's done. And the kids... It makes me sick. So if _I_ can help. I want to. Yes. I love working undercover. I love the danger, I love the adrenaline, and yes, I kind of enjoy the isolation. But I don't have anyone. No one _special_..." He looked at her and her expression showed some hurt. "…that is _mine_." Her look turned into one of slight acknowledgement.

"My other friends, I've been away from them before, and they were still there when I came back. They'll be okay. Now you… I…" He sighed heavily and she tightened her grip on his hand. "I… I care about you. A whole _lot_." He gave her a pointed look with his last words. "And as difficult as it is to leave you, it's even worse seeing you happy with someone else and even worse than that; seeing you unhappy with someone else. But you keep going back. I want you to be happy. But I can't watch it anymore. It's not good for me." Her grip on his hand loosened and a shiver went through him as the warmth of her hand disappeared. He just sat there frowning at his hand which now felt colder than he had ever felt before.

"You should have said this before." He looked over at her when he heard her meek statement.

"I probably should. But you know me. I'm not much for the talking game." He put on his best boyish grin, and felt a ton of weight leave his shoulders when the slightest smile tugged at her lips.

They made a silent agreement not to talk about it anymore and the rest of their shift went by slowly with them picking up a flasher in the park and doing the required paper work. Why anyone would walk around flashing people in October was beyond Sam, and the flasher seemed to be thankful of the warmth of the squad car once he'd gotten inside.

It wasn't long until Sam found himself in the locker room for the last time in a presumably long time.

"So, I'll see ya later then? You're coming to the Penny right?"

Sam found himself, for the second time that day, in a situation where he felt the need to lie to his friend. No one was really supposed to know he was going undercover until he actually had done so, but three people in his division already knew. Granted, one of the three was his staff sergeant, who would have known no matter what, but his partner, and particularly said partner's boyfriend should not have known. He cursed silently to himself as he debated whether to tell Ollie or not.

"Hey, Sam?" Oliver was using his concerned voice again. "You're really out of it today aren't you?"

"What?" Sam was pulled out of his internal debate, without really having been able to make a decision. "Yeah. A lot on my mind." Sam admitted as he bent to untie his boots.

"We'll talk about it at the Penny." Oliver said with a smile.

Sam looked over at him and gave a small nod. He must have looked extremely tired because Oliver's next words were "Or next week's poker game if you're not up for it today."

Sam just gave the same small nod and Oliver saw it as a hint to take his leave. "See ya." He said as he turned around and left Sam alone in the locker room.

Sam had removed one of his boots and was trying to pull the other one off his foot when she came in. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a plain green tank-top, and he could not ever remember her having been more beautiful.

"Hey." She carefully said in a strained whisper.

"Hey." He said still tugging at his boot, which for some reason did not want to come off his foot today.

She chuckled slightly and gestured to his foot. "I guess your shoes don't want you to leave them either."

He sighed and put his foot back on the floor, boot still on it. "I guess not."

"Here, let me help you." She said as she walked over and knelt in front of him.

"It's not. You don't have to." He said futile protest as she grabbed it. It easily slid off his foot.

"Now, why couldn't I do that?" He pouted deliberately.

"Aww. Poor Sammy can't even take his shoes off?" Andy said playfully as she stroked his hair like a mother would her son's to make him feel better. She then realized what she was doing and her cheeks darkened as she quickly withdrew her hand from his head, got up from her kneeling position and sat down next to him on the bench. "So, I guess this is it huh?"

"Yeah."

They both sighed heavily in unison which made both of them chuckle.

"How long will you be?"

"I don't really know. Need to get my informants in order you know? Takes time." Once again he felt the warmth of her hand on his, and all the trouble of that day, the past and the days to come seemed like they were long gone.

"Maybe I'll bust you again and get you off." She joked.

He gave her a look at her choice of words making her blush slightly. Then he chuckled and remembered the day they first met. "I'll do a better job of fighting you off next time."

She scoffed. "You wish. I'd tackle you easily any day."

"Yeah, you probably would." He said with a sad smile. He turned his hand over underneath hers so that their palms were facing. Then their fingers interlocked and they just sat there, both of them staring at their hands.

"Hey, Sammy!"

Their hands quickly separated and they jumped apart at the sound of Jerry's voice.

"What's up?" Sam asked as he got to his feet to meet Jerry at the door so that he wouldn't see Andy sitting in the men's locker room and start getting any ideas. But he wasn't quick enough. Sam was half way in between Andy and the door when Jerry entered.

"I was just checking to…" Jerry abruptly stopped talking when he saw that Sam wasn't alone. "Oh. Hey." He said with a sheepish smile in Andy's direction. He then turned to Sam. "I'm going to the Penny. How on earth are you not done changing yet?" He said thoughtfully. He then looked over at Andy, and back at Sam again. "Yeah. Uhm." He sighed, obviously not knowing what to make of the situation. "Yeah, Penny." He turned and walked out.

Sam just stood there wondering what had just happened inside Jerry's head.

"That was…" Andy searched for the right word. "Awkward. Definitely awkward."

Sam turned back towards her. "Yeah. Uhm. I should really just change and get going." He said as he started unbuttoning his uniform shirt and pulled it off. Without thought he made quick succession of his t-shirt as well and was in the midst of unbuckling his belt before he suddenly realized he was standing there half naked, and Andy hadn't left the room. He looked over at her to find her staring at his chest. When more than just a couple of seconds passed, and her gaze hadn't moved, he said. "See anything you like?"

Embarrassment crept over her face and she looked him in the eye. She then got up and slowly made her way over to him. He just stood there, unsure of what to do until she was inches from him. "I'm going to miss you." She said before she threw herself around his neck.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I could not have asked for better reviews of that last chapter! Thank you VERY much!

Chapter 5 was the last "October"-chapter, so the remaining chapters are in succession. This one is kind of short, but the next one is a lot longer and takes place a couple of months later, so I didn't want to post them at the same time.

If you're scared there won't be any more McSwarek-moments for a while, don't worry. I've got you covered in the next chapter ;)

I've started a new chaptered story and I'm about five chapters in. I'll post it as soon as it's done, but I don't know when that will be yet. There are still a few chapters left of this story though =)

I might post a teaser of the next story at the end of the epilogue if you're interested. Review and let me know if you want me to!

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

_April_

He had not been prepared for this.

Look out? Yes. Security? Of course.

Pointing his gun at a poor old shop-keeper with orders to shoot him if he moved? No.

He'd met up with Max at their usual hang out in the abandoned building. They'd gotten to the warehouse quickly and had stood there waiting for Petrov's guys for about ten minutes.

When the black Mercedes pulled up, Max went to greet them. He'd introduced Sam and they'd gotten on their way.

Petrov's guys were big buff guys with no necks and the build of a bulldog. Sam had to admit that they scared him a little, not that he let it show. He was yakking away confidently about how good he was at escaping cops, how he'd once shot a cop and how he had laughed when the cop screamed in pain from the gun-shot wound. Petrov's guys had laughed as well.

After a short drive they pulled over to the side of the road. Petrov's guys got out first and went over to the trunk. Max gave Sam a nervous look before opening his door and stepping out onto the road. Sam got out on the side walk and waited by the car door until Max and Petrov's guys came around to join him.

"Here." The biggest of the guys thrust a gun into Sam's hand. Sam checked the clip and cocked it. The smaller guy gave a similar gun to Max, who was looking increasingly jumpy.

"So. Uhm. What're we doing?" Sam asked looking at the bigger guy.

He tilted his head toward a small shop on the corner.

Sam raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner and the big guy nodded.

Sam gave him a confident nod and the big guy turned leading the way down the street. "We get the money, you keep the guy still. If he moves, you drop him."

"Aight." Sam's heart was pounding. He had not been prepared to shoot someone. He really wished the guy wouldn't move.

After they burst into the shop, time passed incredibly fast. It seemed like one second he was yelling at the old guy to stay still and not try anything, and the next they were hurrying out of the shop and threw themselves into the car before speeding off.

They were all experiencing a severe rush of adrenaline so the mood was high as they drove back to the docks where the bulldogs let them off.

"We'll be in touch." The bigger guy said before pulling away, tires screeching.

Sam smiled with relief. He was glad he didn't have to shoot somebody. The old guy had luckily been too afraid to move.

"Good job!" Sam said excitedly, smiling at Max.

"I need a hit." Max groaned rubbing his eyes. "You got some on you?" He looked pleadingly at Sam whose smile had disappeared at the sound of his words.

Sam shook his head.

"How 'bout at your house?"

He shouldn't. He _really_ shouldn't. The safe house was meant for him and him alone. He wasn't supposed to bring anyone there except if it was an emergency, but the look on Max' face made him want to give him anything. Sam groaned as he knew he couldn't say no. Max looked so tired and depressed and even though Sam knew that the symptoms of cocaine withdrawel usually went away after 24 hours, the kid had become like the brother he never had, he just wanted to make him feel better.

"Yah, yah. Come on." Sam said reluctantly, leading the way back to his safe house.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I can't believe I have 25 reviews and the story has been up for only five days! Thanks so much for all your kind words!

I also want to thank everyone who has favorited and alerted, it means a lot to me that you keep reading =D

I had my final exam yesterday, so now I will hopefully have time to write some more without feeling bad about it ;)

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Only two more to go after this one!

Leave a review if you want to tell me what was good or not so good =D

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

_June_

Sam was no longer Sam Swarek, police officer.

For eight months he had been Sammy, recreational coke-head and drug dealer doing the odd job for Petrov set up by his best buddy Max. Mostly they were small security jobs during smaller drug sales or simply keeping look-out. But he was inside the walls of the organization.

It was a warm summer's day and they were sweating as they stood outside the warehouse where the deal was going down.

Max' stomach growled loudly, and they both laughed.

"What? You hungry?" Sam asked with a smile.

"Nah, not really." Max said. He was coming down off of the hit he took earlier, and was getting more and more jumpy. "I don't feel so good."

"You coming down?" Sam asked with understanding.

Max just nodded.

"Hang in there. Deal's over soon."

No sooner had Sam said that before two of Petrov's guys, the same two bulldog-like men he usually worked with came out of the building carrying a bag. One of them reached into the bag, got out a wad of cash and handed it to Sam. "Good job." He said as he zipped the bag closed. "No problems?"

"'Course not." Sam said with a big, cocky grin. "We're awesome as always."

Petrov's guy gave him a look, then shrugged, and walked over to the car where the other guy was waiting. "We'll call if something comes up."

Sam gave a wave and they pulled out of the warehouse parking lot.

"Yeah. Let's go get something to eat." He said grinning over at Max.

"I just want a hit." Max said somberly.

"Ya can wait a couple hours, can't you?" Sam said with a big smile as he pulled Max to his feet. Inside he wasn't all smiles though. He'd seen Max slowly deteriorate over the last couple of months. The clothes that had fit him okay five months ago were now way too big, and his cheeks had sunk in.

"Whaddaya wanna eat? Burgers?" Sam said with another big smile as he started walking away from the warehouse.

"I just need another hit. Then I'll be fine." Max said. His head hung low and he seemed extremely tired but jumpy at the same time.

"Come on. Let's go grab a burger." Sam said, grabbing Max' arm, he pulled him out of the warehouse parking lot and out on the street.

They walked for a while along the side of the road in silence, Sam keeping a couple of steps ahead of Max.

"I feel so horrible, man. Just give me something. I know you've got it." Max whined.

"Sorry, man. Don't have nothing on me." Sam said apologetically.

"Like hell you do!" Max exclaimed accusingly. "You sell all the time! Of course you got some on you!"

That _was_ true. Sam had a pack in his pocket, but he would not give it to Max in the state he was in right now. It had barely been 50 minutes since his last line.

"Come on, Sammy. Please? I _really_ need it."

"I think you need to cut back a bit." Sam said.

"Spoken like a true dealer. NOT!" Max said with annoyance and stopped walking in protest. "I have money."

Sam turned around to face him and scoffed. "What money?"

"That money." He said pointing to Sam's pocket and the money Petrov's guy had given him.

"This money?" Sam pulled the wad of cash out of his pocket and held it in Max' face.

"Mhm."

"You gotta eat first and then we'll see."

"_We'll see?_ Come on, man. I really need it! Like right now!" Max was getting louder and louder.

"Food first."

"I'll go get some from someone else." Max said as he lunged for the cash in Sam's hand but Sam was quicker than him and stuffed the money back into his pocket.

"Give me my share!" Max was growing more aggressive by the second as the withdrawal sunk its teeth deeper into him.

"No! Let's go eat." Sam turned around and started walking away, but was stopped by Max' hand on his shoulder before he felt a blow to the back of his head and his chin slammed into his chest.

"What the hell!" Sam exclaimed as he whipped around.

"Give me my money!"

"Since we're friends, I'm gonna choose to ignore you punching me in the head. Now let's go eat!" Sam shouted at him before grabbing his arm way tighter than necessary and pulling him along down the street to the entrance of a burger place. "What do you want?" He spat.

Max scowled at him. "Nothing."

"Okay, I'll just buy you something then." Sam said and turned to walk into the burger place. Once again he felt a blow to the same spot in the back of his head and his chin connected with his chest once more. The back of his head, which had only ached dully before, was now pounding giving him a headache.

"Will you stop punching me in the back of the head!" He yelled while whipping around to face Max.

"If you give me my money!"

"You want your money?" Sam shouted angrily. "I told you you'll get it after you've eaten!"

"But I need a hit NOW!" Max yelled throwing a punch towards Sam's face. Facing him, Sam could easily dodge the punch. Drug addicts usually didn't have the best coordination skills.

"After foo…" Sam was cut off by blaring sirens and he turned around to see a squad car pull up next to them. "Now look what you did!" He yelled at Max while throwing his hands exasperatedly in the air.

"I'm sorry officer. We were just having a little argument. We'll calm…" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw the number on the squad car: 1519. Oliver's car.

* * *

><p>Sam's eyes grew large and he swallowed nervously as the passenger door opened and a brunette officer stepped out of the car. <em>–Damn!<em> He thought as she straightened up and took in a glance of the scene in front of her.

Her brown eyes scanned quickly past him to take in the scene. She then looked down at her notepad to scribble something down before her eyes suddenly shot up and locked with his. Her mouth fell open slightly due to surprise, but she quickly regained her composure. She cleared her throat loudly.

"We've received a disturbance call." She said with authority looking from Sam to Max. "Care to tell me what's going on?"

"Just a money issue, officer." Sam said with a big confident grin, falling back into his role. "Not a big deal, really. Just got outta hand. We'll be on our way." He nodded curtly and turned to leave.

"Just get lost. It's none of your business!" Max suddenly shouted.

Sam groaned. Maybe he should have let Max have that line earlier.

Andy looked at Max with an I-cannot-believe-you-just-said-that-to-me look on her face. "Well, since I was called here to assess the situation and there were reports of violent behavior. It kind of _is_ my business." She said sternly walking over to him. "I think we need to bring you to the station and get a statement."

Max just scoffed.

"Come on, we ain't gonna do nothing. We're leaving." Sam pleaded while grabbing a hold of Max' arm and trying to tug him along.

"Like hell we're leaving!" Max shouted ripping his arm out of Sam's grip and walking back towards Andy in a threatening manner. "I won't get my stuff until I eat something right?" He turned to Sam.

Sam was at a loss for words. He cursed himself for not having let Max do that line earlier. Then he walked over and stepped in between Andy and Max.

"We're just gonna go." Sam said grinning at Andy while pushing Max backwards using his back.

"I wanna beat this cop chick so bad!" Max shouted, while trying to get around Sam.

"Max! Calm down! You're not making the situation any better!" Sam said as loudly as he could through gritted teeth as it took a surprising amount of strength to keep Max under control.

When the third punch in one hour connected with the back of Sam's head he lost it.

"WHAT THE! Fine!" He shouted throwing his hands in the air and stepped to the side so that Max had a clear path towards Andy. Sam had no doubt that she'd take him down easily.

He was right.

Max lunged forward with all his weight, his direction so obvious and his control so poor that Andy could easily step to the side and let him slam himself into the squad car. She then expertly proceeded to cuff him and shoved him into the back of the car.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sam's head whipped towards the sound of his old work buddy as Oliver finally got out of the car. "Good going there, McNally!" He said with a smile that disappeared as soon as he laid eyes on Sam. His eyes bulged for a moment before he walked calmly over to Sam. "You involved?" He asked in standard cop-tone.

Sam threw his hands in the air. "Yah, yah. No point in running." He sighed as Oliver came over and removed his cuffs from his belt then proceeded to cuff him.

"Don't let anyone burn me this time." Sam said under his breath as Oliver directed him to the car.

"Do my best." Ollie whispered quickly before opening the door and putting a hand on the back of Sam's head to guide him into the car. Due to the three punches to virtually the same spot, this gesture made Sam wince. He could see Andy frown out of the corner of his eye before Ollie shut the door and got in to the front seat with Andy.

"Dispatch, this is 1519. We're bringing in two bodies for interviews from our disturbance call." Andy said into the radio.

"Roger that 1519, come on in."

"Let's go!" Oliver said enthusiastically as he pulled out onto the street and headed towards the precinct.

Sam had been clenching his jaw in irritation the whole drive hoping that the situation wouldn't turn out like the last time he'd been stuck in the back of a squad car with Shaw and McNally in the front.

They pulled into the station and Oliver guided him out of the car while Andy hung back with Max. Sam had a small smile on his lips as Oliver took him through the doors leading into the booking room.

"She's learnt." He said when the door had closed, safely separating them from Andy and Max.

"Yeah. Let's find you a holding cell." Oliver said pushing Sam through another set of familiar doors and into a small cell with a small bench and a metal toilet with no seat.

"Thanks man." Sam said with a sarcastic smile.

"I'll talk to you later." Oliver said as he left the cell and locked the door.

"Super duper!"Sam said to himself as he plopped down on the bench and rubbed his eyes.

It felt like he'd been there for hours when he finally heard metal on metal as the door unlocked and swung open.

"How you doing?"

"I'm pissed." Sam said through clenched teeth without opening his eyes.

"Well, we got you not burned this time. You hungry?" Shaw sat down on the bench next to Sam's feet.

"I was." Sam replied opening his eyes. "But not anymore." He sighed, swinging his legs off the bench. "How's the kid?"

"Angry."

Sam sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "You gotta hold him?"

"Yeah. He's not far from an aggravated assault charge and he's still being aggressive so…" Oliver trailed off as he saw Sam pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Damn it." Sam sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall. "Ow!" he yelped as his growing bruise connected with the wall and sent pounding pain through his head.

"You okay there, buddy?" Oliver asked with concern.

"Three times."

"Huh?"

"He hit me in the back of the head three times." Sam said dully. He looked at Ollie properly for the first time since the day he left. "He's a good kid. Only problem is his withdrawal. I was trying to get him to go a bit longer without coke. He's been out of control with his using lately." Sam said with sincere worry.

"He's your CI?"

Sam shook his head. "More like…" He struggled to find the words. "Connection." He decided that was the most suitable description.

"Ok." Oliver got up and went over to the door. "McNally'd like to talk to you." He said putting his hand on the door.

"I don't know..." Sam sighed and let his head fall to his left. "I really shouldn't…" He sighed heavily once more. "Okay. Send her in."

Oliver nodded before opening the door.

"Hey, about my going under…" Sam said, halting Shaw in the doorway.

"Don't worry about it." Shaw smiled over his shoulder before walking out and leaving Sam alone yet again.

* * *

><p>Not ten minutes later the door reopened not to reveal his balding friend, but the tan brown-eyed brunette that had haunted his dreaming and waking hours for well over a year, and that he cared about too much for his own good.<p>

She smiled nervously and waved slightly before she sat down next to him on the bench.

They sat breathing in unison for a little while. The tension was building and Sam could have sworn he felt the air vibrating between them.

"So, hey." He said breaking the silence.

"Hey." She said quietly, looking straight ahead at the door.

"Shaw said you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah." She said breathing loudly but calmly.

"'Bout what?" Sam prodded when she didn't say anything.

She sighed still staring at the door.

"You counting the bolts, McNally?"

A smile played at her lips. "Like four times now." She said with a small chuckle.

"So, you gonna tell me what's up, or can I leave soon?" He said coming off a bit more aggressive than he had wanted.

But apparently it was what she needed. "I broke up with Luke." She said matter-of-factly.

His heart went up in his throat and he couldn't speak.

"Not long after you left."

_-Was she reading his mind?_ He wondered. He swallowed hard to try to get rid of the lump in his throat, but to no avail.

"It just wasn't right." She said. She still hadn't looked at him since her nervous smile when she came in. "There was something missing. I just can't figure out what."

He grunted loudly in an effort to force his heart back in his chest and it worked. "I'm sorry." He said still sounding like he had something stuck in his throat but at least he could speak.

"Don't be. It's been what? Six months soon?"

"Ok, then." He looked down at his hands.

"How's your head?" She finally looked at him. He could feel her eyes scanning the back of his head for bumps. "You winced horribly back there when Shaw put his hand on it."

"Yeah. You would too if you got hit three times in the same spot." Sam said dully.

"Ouch... Where did he…?" She reached out to touch his head, but he grabbed her wrist to keep her hand from touching him.

"Don't."

"Do you need someone to take a look at it?" She asked with concern.

"Nah, it'll be all right." He said. He wanted to wave his right hand dismissively but realized that he was still gripping her wrist tightly. He frowned before forcing his hand to open and let her loose.

He still wouldn't look at her. He couldn't look at her.

"Sam."

"I can't do this." He whispered.

"What?"

"I shouldn't talk to you." He looked over at the wall, but there was nothing his eyes could rest on so they went back to his hands resting on his thighs.

"Okay." She got to her feet.

His emotions were raging inside him. He was Sam Swarek, police officer. He had yearned for his rookie since their first shift together. He loved teaching her things and wanted nothing more than to teach her again. To hold her in his arms and comfort her after a bad shift. But he wasn't that officer Sam Swarek. He was Swarek UC agent. No. He was Sammy. He was a drug dealer. No. What was he? Everything was so confusing. Only one thing was clear in his mind: He did not want her to leave.

He did not want to leave her again.


	9. Chapter 8

This is the last official chapter of the story, only the epilogue left after this! Yikes!

Luckily (maybe), my new story is finished. It's called "Grey Sweats and a Blue Hoodie" not the best title, but as I am not very good at coming up with titles, it will have to suffice. I mentioned in an earlier A/N that I'd might post a "teaser" of this new story at the end of the epilogue of this, which means tomorrow, if you guys are interested? The prologue will be posted on Saturday most likely.

Once again: I couldn't ask for better reviews!

And to WolfRage (you have PM turned off, so I couldn't thank you there) thank you SO much for this comment: "I can say without any doubt that this is the best McSwarek fanfic I ever read." It made my day!

This is a busy day for Sam.

I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

_August_

That bust two months prior had screwed him up. Badly.

He thought about her all the time now. He absolutely could not get her out of his head.

For two months he had tried to decide if he should contact the force and say that he needed out, but he couldn't.

He was gaining the trust of Petrov's guys, and with that came more important jobs. He was now part of the inside security when it came to larger drug deals. But that was not what they wanted to bust Petrov on. It was the kids.

He had yet to have been let into that circle, but it couldn't be long. They used him for almost every drug deal these days. Had his head been in the game, he would have been thrilled.

What was good about doing those kinds of jobs was that he was able to eat and sleep properly. Yes, he was still posing as a recreational coke user, but working security meant he had purpose and so it would be natural that he lowered his drug use to be more alert. He also got to work out again, which was a welcome break in his lowly routine of hanging around waiting to be called in and also a welcome distraction from the constant images of a certain female cop.

His phone rang and he flipped it open while lifting it to his ear, not bothering to look at who was calling.

"Yah."

"It's me, man..."

"Max? How've you been? I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks." In fact it was more than just a couple of weeks. Apparently Max had made a swing at Shaw in the interview room and had been put into holding and in the end been charged with assault. Sam didn't know how long his sentence had been. And he was too busy with his case and the distraction of McNally no longer being with Callaghan to find out. He now regretted not having taken the time.

"Yeah, I'm not doing so..."

"Max? Are you okay? Where are you?" Sam was worried. Max sounded horrible, and couldn't even complete his sentences.

"I'm at the house."

"I'll be right there." Sam shut the phone and ran out the door. It didn't take long before he was standing outside the busted window of the abandoned building. He climbed through it and looked around the dusty room.

"Max?" He shouted, but didn't get a response. He ran up the stairs. "Max!" Sam ran over to the couch where Max was lying, face up, staring blankly at the ceiling. Blood was trickling out of his nose, and his right arm was clutching his chest.

"What's going on?" Sam said as he knelt next to the couch and put his hand on Max' forehead he was wet from cold sweat.

Max groaned. "My chest."

"Does it hurt?"

"Pressure." He groaned and closed his eyes. His head lolled to the side.

Sam wiped away some of the blood with his sleeve. "You need a hospital."

"Nah. I don't like..." Max groaned again and clutched his chest. "I can't… Breathe." He forced out.

"I'm calling an ambulance." Sam pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

"Hey. I'm an undercover officer." Sam started. He wanted them to not treat this like a regular druggie case. And Max was too focused on the pain to pay any attention to what he was saying so he didn't have to worry about blowing his cover. "An informant of mine is in bad shape. I suspect a heart attack." Sam informed the dispatch calmly. "Name's Max, he's 19." Sam waited for the dispatcher to speak before he informed her of the address. She said that the bus would be right over. Sam thanked her and hung up.

"They're coming to take you to the hospital." Sam said grabbing Max's left hand which was cold and clammy.

"I... Don't…" He was struggling to breathe.

"Shh. Be quiet. They'll be here soon."

"Thanks… For caring." Max forced himself to say. He groaned loudly and the knuckles of his right hand turned white as he clutched his chest.

The sirens blaring outside made Sam's head whip around and he walked over to the window. He saw the paramedics get the gurney out of the bus and when they'd entered the building he went over to the stairs and yelled for them to come up.

They did a quick job of strapping Max to the gurney and taking his vitals before they attached an oxygen mask to his face and brought him out to the bus.

"Thank you." Sam said shaking one of the paramedics hand. "Can I..." He was cut off by his phone ringing. Flipping it open he saw that it was Mikahil, the beefier of Petrov's guys calling. "Shit!" He said loudly. "I gotta take this." He excused himself with a nod. The paramedic got into the ambulance and it drove off.

"Yah." Sam said into the phone, cursing the bad timing.

"We're moving some stuff tonight. You need to be there."

"Aight."

"It's _small_ stuff, if you catch my drift?"

"Yup." Sam said. He knew exactly what he meant. Children. His heart was beating hard and fast. This was it. They'd get him today. He got information about when and where they would meet and were they'd unload.

When he hung up, Sam thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest due to its rapid beating from the amount of adrenaline that was coursing through his body. He felt dizzy and realized that his breath was quick and shallow. He forced himself to breathe with his stomach to calm down enough to get his thoughts in order. He had a lot of preparations to do.

The ensuing conversation with "Jennifer" was fairly short. Sam informed him of where and when the move was going to happen and that the kids were coming in to be stored before being sold and shipped off.

Boyd told him that he had nothing to worry about. They'd stake out the place and come crashing in once they were certain they could control the situation.

* * *

><p>He was picked up around six even though the kids weren't arriving until the middle of the night. Mikahil informed him that the kids were coming in from Eastern Europe on a ship, and that Sam's job would be security, riding with the truck driver. Mikahil and the other bulldog, Stan, were going to shadow them in the Mercedes.<p>

Sam was trying his best not to let his nerves show through his cocky character and he seemed to be doing a good job. He joked and made derogatory remarks about the police and the people they drove by on the streets as they made their way towards the docks. Mikahil was as entertained as always by Sam's stories and laughed heartily at his remarks.

They picked up Stan and the three of them waited at the docks for hours until it was finally time to get to work.

The large white truck with the unmarked shipping container passed easily through the security check at the docks, and Sam was soon sitting next to an overweight bearded truck driver headed for one of Petrov's storage houses on the outskirts of the city.

The truck driver wasn't particularly talkative which didn't really bother Sam all that much except that there was no distraction to keep his mind off of the children that now probably were huddled together in the shipping container they were pulling.

When the driver had pulled into the loading dock, and turned off the engine, Sam got out and went around to the doors leading into the warehouse. He met up with Stan and Mikahil and he lit a cigarette as they watched some of Petrov's other security guys starting to unload the boxes of toys that were used as a decoy to cover the hidden compartment of the container.

Mikahil was talking about his family, and how he couldn't wait to get home to his wife who had promised him a feast for breakfast. Sam played along, asking questions about his kids, all the while keeping a wary eye on the unloading of the container.

They were unloading the last couple of boxes of board games when he heard the sirens blaring. Excitement and panic spread amongst the people in the warehouse as they pulled their guns in preparation for the inevitable shoot out that would ensue when the cops came barging inside.

Out of the corner of his eye Sam could see Petrov coming out of his office on an upper floor with a panicked expression on his face. Sam couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at his lips as he ducked behind a crate, his gun pulled and pointing at one of the doors.

He'd just gotten into a decent position when the SWAT team burst inside and the shooting started. Sam shot off some poorly aimed rounds to keep his cover before ducking and getting out of the line of fire. As he moved away he saw Mikahil's head whip back as it connected with a bullet and his big body dropped to the floor lifeless.

Petrov's guys were severely outnumbered by the police and the situation was soon under 5-0 control.

Sam welcomed the cuffs that were forcefully put on his wrists and was willingly led by the officer, his good friend Oliver Shaw, out to squad car 1519 where he was promptly put in the back.

"That went well." He smiled at Ollie as he undid the cuffs, freeing Sam's arms.

"Yeah. Good job, buddy. You just stay here for a bit until we get some of these people removed." He gestured to the mass of Petrov's guys that were being brought out in cuffs. "Then you can come out."

Sam nodded and leaned back against the car seat. He let out a deep sigh and smiled. He'd done it. The case was over. He'd seen it through. Now he could relax. Well, soon. He needed to see that those kids were all right, or as good as they could be considering their situation.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long before most of the officers who had made arrests were getting into their squad cars and driving back to their precincts to book Petrov and his henchmen, and Sam took this as a sign that he could go back into the building.<p>

The inside was filled with a hoard of uniformed and SWAT-clad officers. They were all congratulating him on a job well done. He just nodded curtly at them all as he made his way over to the container.

They'd gotten the hidden compartment open and the stench was horrible. It was a mixture of week old excrement, vomit and fast food that oozed out of the container and made most of the officers gag.

The children were, as he had imagined, huddled together in a corner clinging on to each other for dear life. Their eyes were wide with fear and not accustomed to the light.

As Sam walked into the container, one of the children squinted at him. He tried to give the skinny boy a reassuring smile, but this apparently scared him as he proceeded to struggle to get closer to the other kids.

Sam slowed his agitated breathing and squatted down offering his right hand.

Several of the children just stared at him, but the boy reached out to touch him hesitantly. It took a couple of tries but he finally took the plunge and grabbed Sam's hand. Sam gave him a warm smile, and the boy threw himself around his neck. Sam scooped him up and carried him out of the container.

Some of the other officers followed his example, and soon all nine children were outside the container.

"Swarek!" Boyd was making his way through the mass of officers.

"Boyd." Sam said with a small nod. The small boy was still in his arms, holding on to him tightly.

"We need your statement." Boyd frowned at the boy in Sam's arms.

"Can't we do it tomorrow?" Sam asked gesturing with his head towards the boy he was practically wearing as a necklace.

Boyd rolled his eyes slightly and with an exasperated sigh said "All right then. Tomorrow." He then proceeded to walk away.

"Listen up!" It was Oliver who was shouting over the crowd. "The kids need to go to the hospital to get checked out! All of you, who've got a kid, get in the cars outside and we'll drive you." He turned and promptly walked out of the warehouse. Sam adjusted his grip on the small boy and followed suit.

"Sammy! Here!" Oliver called as Sam exited the warehouse. He walked over to Oliver's car and got in the back with the boy on his lap.

* * *

><p>Well inside the hospital the boy would not let go of Sam's neck and so Sam was forced to stay with him as the doctors and nurses checked his vitals. The boy was severely malnourished and his body was almost skeletal. Sam learned that he was approximately six years old and most likely from Romania.<p>

Sam sighed heavily when the last of the nurses left the room. She'd put out a basin and some hospital PJs for the boy to get cleaned up and changed into. Sam slowly forced the boy's hands apart so that he could get a hold of the wash cloth.

He smiled at the boy, who just looked at him with his big brown eyes. He held out the wash cloth, but the boy didn't take it. Sam then brought the cloth to his own face and mimicked washing himself. Then he cautiously brought the cloth towards the boy's face. He pulled away at first. But after a while he relaxed understanding that Sam did not intend to hurt him, and Sam proceeded to clean his face, neck and upper body. He helped him put on the PJs and tucked him into the hospital bed.

As Sam went to straighten up again, the boy grabbed his hand, and stared pleadingly into his eyes. Sam smiled sadly, before looking around to find a chair. He pointed to one a few feet away, and the boy nodded carefully before releasing Sam's hand so that he could pull the chair over to the bed. Once he had sat down, the boy once again grabbed his hand and held on tightly.

After having sat there for at least an hour, Sam was running over his day backwards. He saw every vivid detail of what had happened in high speed rewind. The kids, the shooting, the trucker, the waiting at the docks, the planning, the phone call, Max.

He looked down at his arm, and could see the dried blood still on his sleeve from when he had wiped the blood off of Max' face.

How could he have forgotten about Max? Was he okay? He had to find out. But he couldn't leave the little kid.

As he was stressing out as to what to do the door to the room opened.

He had expected to see a nurse, but no.

She was a welcome sight at the end of a long and quite frankly horrible day.

She was still in uniform, and her hair was in a messy bun. She smiled sadly, first at the boy in the bed, and then at him.

"Hey." She whispered. "How is he?"

"Scared." Sam said silently. "I think he might fall asleep soon."

"Good." Andy walked over to the bed and pulled up a chair on the opposite side of Sam.

They sat in silence for a while. The boy's eyes were fluttering open with regular intervals, but when they came to rest on Sam they closed again.

"How are you?" She asked.

"I'm okay." Sam said deep in thought.

"You did it." She said with a small smile.

"Yeah." He said somberly. "Listen…" He sighed. "I have to go check on someone. Max." He clarified at her look of question.

"Oh."

"Yeah…" Sam trailed off. "Thing is. I'm kind of stuck." He lifted his hand so that she could see the tight grip the little boy had on his hand.

She smiled slightly.

"If I try, maybe he'll trust you?" Sam said, not bothering to explain further. He smiled when she understood.

"Sure."

Sam nudged the boy and his eyes fluttered open filled with fear. Sam smiled at him which calmed him down somewhat. "Andy." Sam said pointing to Andy. "My friend." He knew the boy probably didn't understand English, but he had to give it a shot. The boy looked worried. Andy leaned forward and grabbed his hand. He looked at Sam nervously at first, then over at Andy, and back at Sam again. Sam just kept smiling. And after a couple more glances between them, the boy relaxed and clutched Andy's hand the same way he did Sam's.

Sam gave him a reassuring nod, and the small hand loosened its grip. He got up and shot Andy a thankful smile before he left the room.

* * *

><p>He walked around for a couple of minutes trying to find the reception area. When he finally found it he approached the woman behind the counter with determination.<p>

"Hello." She said with a slight smile.

"Hi." Sam said with a courteous nod. "I called for an ambulance earlier today. 19 year old with a suspected heart attack? I wanted to go with him but unforeseen circumstances unfolded" Sam explained.

"Do you have a name?" The woman asked as she started typing on the computer.

"Max." Sam said hearing an anxiety in his voice that he had not expected.

"Oh." She frowned at the screen.

"What?" Sam asked. When she looked up at him her smile had faded and her eyes revealed sadness and compassion.

"I'm going to call Dr. Campbell. He was here when your friend was brought in."

"What happened? Is he…" Sam couldn't bring himself to say it.

"The doctor will be here soon. He'll answer your questions." She said. "Why don't you sit down for a while?"

Sam walked over and slumped down on one of the benches in the waiting area. The woman wasn't lying when she'd said the doctor would be there soon. Sam had only been sitting for a couple of minutes when a tall, brown-haired, bespectacled man in a white coat came around the corner. He exchanged a few words with the woman behind the glass before turning to Sam.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Campbell."

"Sam Swarek." Sam said accepting Dr. Campbell's outstretched hand in a quick handshake.

"You're an undercover officer if I'm not mistaken?"

Sam nodded. "Finished today." He added to his nod with a sigh.

"Oh, the children? That case?"

Sam just nodded, not wanting to talk about it.

"I'm guessing you did a good job then. I mean…"

"How's my guy. Is he okay? What happened?" Sam interrupted the doctor.

"I'm sorry to say this, but you were right in suspecting a heart attack. It probably came about due to malnourishment. His body was so deteriorated that there wasn't a lot we could do. I'm sorry." Dr. Campbell said compassionately.

"Damn." Sam swore silently. "I knew I should have pushed him more. I shouldn't have let him…"

"It's not your fault." The doctor started, but Sam interrupted him.

"Yes. It is." Sam stated and got up from his seat. "Thanks for doing your best." He told the doctor before he walked back to the room where he had left the young Romanian boy with McNally.

* * *

><p>"He's asleep." She whispered as Sam reentered the room.<p>

"Good." he said dully as he walked over to the chair he had left and slumped down in it. Max was dead. And it was his fault. He had provided him with drugs. He had provided him with money. He might as well just have shot him.

"How are you?"

Her words pulled him out of his head, and he put the feelings of failure away. "I'm good." He said forcing himself to smile.

She didn't believe him. He could tell. He braced himself for her to ask him again, but she didn't. He looked up at her and frowned. She just smiled comfortingly at him. Her eyes telling him that everything would be all right. That he had nothing to worry about. That she was there.


	10. Epilogue

**A/N:** So, this is the last part of the story. I hope you all have enjoyed it, which, looking at your reviews, favorites and alerts, it seems like you have. That really means a lot to me seeing as this is my first ever published piece of writing.

I tried making it light and easy, but some heavy stuff crept in there, like they always do when I try to write something.

I hope you enjoy this last chapter and that you think it is a good ending for my story =)

Review and let me know if you want, I love hearing what you think!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters or anything related to the series in any way, shape or form.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

_September_

"Sam."

He stuck his head out of the kitchen to look at the dark haired boy standing in his living room with a big smile on his face and couldn't help but smile himself.

"Adrian." Sam acknowledged with a small nod while exiting the kitchen.

The boy took on a look of deep thought. "Car." He said pointing to a toy car on the floor.

"Yes." Sam smiled.

Adrian's face lit up. He pointed to a truck, and once more thought hard. "Truck?" he looked at Sam expectantly.

"Yes." Sam smiled nodding.

There was a knock on the door.

"Door!" Adrian shouted and ran over to open it.

Sam shook his head in amusement as he followed the young boy to his front door. It had been one month now. They were still adjusting.

Both Sam and Andy had spent the night in the hospital the night of the Petrov bust. Andy had left for work early in the morning and not a short while later a social worker had come in to assess the boy's situation.

Sam had asked her what would happen to him, and she had said that they would research his background as best they could but that he most likely would be put in the system as they assumed that he had been an orphaned street kid back in Romania before he was taken.

Sam had quickly decided that he didn't want the boy to go through any more unnecessary hardships and had therefore proceeded to question the social worker about becoming a foster parent.

She had said it was against her better judgment and the rules to let him take the boy home. Sam had made a quip about how he wasn't one for following the rules, and his loose tone and dimples had earned him a small smile from the woman. She had told him that she would see what she could do and get back to him.

It had worked out.

After a million tries Sam had finally been able to get the boy to tell him his name. Adrian. And since he had taken him home, after he had been cleared by the doctors, things had been good.

Adrian was eager to learn English and to spend time with Sam, and Sam was just as eager to teach him. He had made arrangements with Best that he would be coming back to 15th after an extended leave of absence to get Adrian adjusted to life in Canada and get fully enrolled in school.

"Andy!" Sam heard Adrian's voice exclaim, and as he rounded the corner he saw the two of them in a tight embrace. The view brought a smile to his face.

"Hey." Andy smiled at Sam as she let Adrian back down on his feet.

"Hey." Sam smiled back.

"Come!" Adrian said excitedly and grabbed Andy's hand pulling her into the apartment.

Andy yelped slightly at the sudden forced movement and stumbled after Adrian into the living room. Sam closed the door and walked into the kitchen to finish making Adrian's lunch.

Andy had been over almost every day. She gave him the low down of the goings on at 15th division and helped him with Adrian. They hadn't really talked about anything of importance unless it concerned the boy. It frustrated him, but they never really got any time to themselves. When she worked days, she came over after shift, stayed while Sam went shopping and got some things done and then she'd leave before Adrian's bed time.

Sam finished up the sandwiches, put them on a plate and brought them out into the living room where Andy and Adrian were crashing their toy cars into each other.

"What's that game?" Sam asked with amusement as he put the plate on the coffee table.

"I don't know." Andy said with a chuckle, looking up at him from her position on the floor.

Sam smiled and squatted down next to Adrian. He put a hand on the boy's head to get his attention, he then pointed over at the plate. "Want some food?"

Adrian smiled. "Samiches."

Sam chuckled. "Almost. SaNDwiches."

"Yum!" Adrian said before getting to his feet and hurrying over to the couch to eat.

"How is it going?" Andy asked looking over at Adrian on the couch.

"It's good." Sam sighed. "Trying to teach him more English."

"Nothing new there." Andy said smiling.

"No." Sam said looking over at her.

"How are you?" She asked, turning to face him.

He was slightly startled at her words. She hadn't asked him that since they were sitting in the hospital a month ago.

"I'm getting there." He told her honestly.

"Good."

He shifted to a more comfortable seated position as he was starting to get cramps from squatting. "Some days are better than others. But having him here helps keep my mind off it." He shrugged.

They both sat there silently watching the six year old eat.

"Hey, McNally?" Sam said hesitantly.

"Hm?"

"You want to eat dinner with us today?" He was extremely nervous. His heart was beating like crazy and it was taking a lot of effort just to keep his face neutral.

"Yeah, why not?" She said with no tone in particular.

"Great!" Sam said, in his oppinion a bit too enthusiastically. "I mean… Good. Okay." He got to his feet a bit flustered. "We're having pizza. It's Saturday so…"

"Pizza-day!" Adrian said with a huge smile on his face.

"You're teaching him the real names of the week days too right?" Andy said jokingly.

He shot her a that-is-not-really-funny look and went to get the menu for the pizza place so they could decide. It usually took forever to explain to Adrian what all the different toppings were. And because Sam's Romanian pronunciation was beyond horrible, the dictionary he had gotten from Jerry didn't help much, particularly since Adrian couldn't read.

The evening crept by and when they were all well fed it was soon time for Adrian to go to sleep. Sam followed him into the bathroom and helped him put toothpaste on his tooth brush before leaving him to get a fresh pair of PJs out of his room. When he had put them in the bathroom for Adrian to put on he went back into the kitchen where Andy had just finished putting away the dishes and was now folding the pizza box.

"Way to make it look pretty." Sam said sarcastically leaning on the kitchen counter.

"Like you could do a better job." She scowled at him.

He smiled and watched her stuff the bulky carton into his garbage. "It was nice today."

"Yeah." She said looking thoughtfully at the small picture of Sam and Adrian that was hanging on the fridge.

"You're doing a good thing." She said quietly.

"Well, you know…" He shrugged.

"No. Don't shrug it off." She walked over to where he was standing and stared into his eyes. "You're doing a _really_ good thing."

He looked away. Out the window. Down the street. He thought about all the other kids out there. Not only on the streets of Toronto but in Romania, in Brazil, everywhere. What he was doing wasn't even a drop in the ocean. His mind drifted on to Max. It was his fault. He should have done more. He should have…

His cheek felt warm.

He turned back towards Andy whose hand was cupping his cheek. Her thumb was drying away the silent tears that were escaping his eyes. He couldn't believe he was crying.

She gave him a comforting smile. "Go sit down on the couch. I'll tuck Adrian in."

He smiled sadly.

A chill crept through him when her hand left his cheek and she disappeared out of the kitchen. He turned the faucet to cold and let the water run for a while before splashing some in his face. He dried off and went into the living room as he had been told to do.

Soon Andy was sitting next to him.

"Where did you go back there?" She asked quietly after a bout of comfortable silence.

"Nowhere." He sighed. He hated feeling vulnerable.

"You need to stop compartmentalizing."

"Yeah. I probably do." He admitted staring at the black TV screen.

They both sighed simultaneously and chuckled.

"It's just like when you were leaving." Andy commented with the slightest hint of humor.

He remained silent.

Her warm hand came to rest on top of his.

"That's the best medicine right there." He said with a small smile, looking down at their hands.

"Huh?"

"This," He turned his hand over underneath hers like he had done that October evening and their fingers intertwined. "makes everything better." He looked up at her and smiled hesitantly.

"I guess I should do it more often then." She smiled shyly.

"You definitely should."

~THE END~

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I really hope you liked it!

Anyway; I promised you a teaser of my next chaptered fic "Grey Sweats and a Blue Hoodie". It's short but I think it will be effective in showing what this next story is about ;)

I hope you like it!

* * *

><p>She shouldn't be there. She lowered her hand and turned around starting to descend the steps. She was getting off the last step when she heard the door knob turn. She stopped mid movement, but her weight was already moving forward causing her to fall. She yelped and managed to turn in the air so that she ended up sitting on the ground facing the door. As the person behind it heard her yelp, it opened quickly revealing a dark haired boy. Her estimate had him pegged probably around thirteen.<p>

XXX

Andy was still sitting on the ground. She was frowning at the boy and he was frowning back at her. She knew that expression. Her eyes widened as her mind started leaping to conclusions. Sam had a kid. How else could they look so much alike? The boy had Sam's hair, his eyes and his jaw line. He would have been the spitting image of Sam if it hadn't been for his nose and his mouth. How could he not have told her he had a kid?


End file.
